Captain’s Table – Round 22

Let’s take a look at all of your options for this week.

Melbourne v Sydney

(Friday – 7:50pm @ MCG)

A Friday night non-blockbuster here with two struggling sides, but surprisingly with a few potential Vice-captains to choose from. The likes of Isaac Heeney, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Jake Lloyd would be seen as left-field choices but are capable of good scores. You should however be deciding between Max Gawn and Clayton Oliver who are in great form, on their home track and despite their disappointing recent history against the Swans, should come out firing. Gawn is head & shoulders above his opposition and should be a safe bet for your VC this week.

Best choice: Max Gawn

Carlton v St. Kilda

(Saturday 1:45pm @ MCG)

Both teams (or more accurately both coaches) are looking to impress with another late season win. The Saints will be led by young gun Rowan Marshall and a resurgent Seb Ross while the Blues have Nic Newman, Ed Curnow and their champion skipper Patrick Cripps. Cripps is heads and shoulders above the rest of the players on the park and should dominate the game. He has averaged 121.3 over the last three weeks, while averaging 1433 over his last three games against the Saints. Lock him in.

Best choice: Patrick Cripps

Brisbane v Geelong

(Saturday 2:10pm @ Gabba)

The first of two hotly anticipated games see the surging 2^nd place Lions taking on the first place Cats with insane levels of talent on the field. Jarryd Lyons has been in outstanding form taking full advantage of the opposition’s focus on star Lachie Neale and Dayne Zorko with the formers recent form taking a hit. The Cats also have multiple options to consider with Patrick Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan, Tim Kelly and Tom Hawkins capable of big scores. Tomahawk is unlikely to find the going easy against the Lions so your best option should come from the abundance of midfield weapons. I’m backing Neale to bounce back to form and lead the Lions to top of the ladder.

Best choice: Lachie Neale

Adelaide v Collingwood

(Saturday 4:05pm @ AO)

Another big game that will shape the finals picture with a lot of viable captaincy options. The Pies have Brodie Grundy, Adam Treloar and Scott Pendlebury as worthy options with Treloar in particular, in outstanding form averaging 133.6 over the last five weeks and 142.3 over the last 3 weeks while Grundy holds a great record against the Crows.

The Crows are led by midfield trio Rory Sloane, Matt Crouch and Brad Crouch who can be inconsistent at times. The safest bet in this game would be to select Grundy, but it could be a battle between midfield bulls Treloar and M.Crouch.

Best choice: Brodie Grundy

North Melbourne v Port Adelaide

(Saturday 7:25pm @ Marvel)

Not a lot of solid options here as genuine captaincy options with only Todd Goldstein and Travis Boak potentially getting a look in. The Power’s ruck stocks are changing weekly almost which could see Goldy take full control in the ruck as the big fella is continuing a stellar season with the Roos. Boak’s recent form isn’t great, but he does have the potential to take control of the game and lead the way.

Best choice: Todd Goldstein

Fremantle v Essendon

(Saturday 6:10pm @ Optus)

The wheels have fallen off at Tullamarine and a trip interstate could be what they need. Saying that, the Dockers midfield could take hold of the Dons with Nat Fyfe, David Mundy and Michael Walters leading the way on home soil. Fyfe is the obvious choice here averaging 131 over the last three weeks with a healthy recent history against the Dons. Zach Merrett could be a chance here as well as he averages 122.5 against the Dockers and is in decent form himself coming into this game. Fyfe should be a very popular captaincy choice this week and with Dylan Clarke omitted, there is not even a small chance he doesn’t deliver.

Best choice: Nat Fyfe

Richmond v West Coast

(Sunday 1:10pm @ MCG)

Despite the other blockbuster this week, this game seems a clear match of the round placing two feared September teams in action fighting for a possible home passage through the finals. As always, the Tigers are hard to select as Captains but any of Dusty Martin, Dion Prestia and Bachar Houli could prove to be shrewd choices. The Eagles are similarly evenly spread with Elliot Yeo, Andrew Gaff, Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey and Dom Sheed all capable of a big score. Better options in other games and this game is just to hard to split.

Best choice: Dustin Martin

GWS v Western Bulldogs

(Sunday 3:20pm @ GIA)

Yet another difficult game to pick and another game that offers up plenty of captaincy options. The home side have Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Zac Williams, Tim Taranto and Jeremy Cameron all capable of a big score while the Doggies will be led by Jack Macrae, Josh Dunkley and Marcus Bontempelli whom are likely to be the best trio going around today. Both Macrae and Dunkley are in white hot form averaging 135+ over the last 5 weeks and either player would make an excellent Captaincy choice.

Best choice: Jack Macrae

 

Hawthorn v Gold Coast

(Sunday 4:40pm @ Marvel)

Just can’t back anybody from this game despite the great current form of James Worpel, Ben McEvoy and Jarrod Witts. Another who could really take a hold of this game is the enigmatic James Sicily who could feast on Gold Coast’s forward entries. Don’t think anyone would be game enough to pick anyone from this game.

Best choice: James Sicily

Hot Sauce’s Top Picks

1. Nat Fyfe
2. Max Gawn
3. Brodie Grundy
4. Patrick Cripps
5. Jack Macrae

Wildcard: James Sicily

 

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